Building Autonomies

Jens Dahl . Victoria Tauli-Corpuz . Shapiom Noningo . Shankar Limbu . Sara Olsvig building Autonomies 1 u u u 2 building Autonomies Jens Dahl . Victoria Tauli-Corpuz . Shapiom Noningo Shankar Limbu . Sara Olsvig 3 Building Autonomies COPYRIGHT: The authors and IWGIA COVER AND INTERIOR DESIGN: Gredna Landolt EDITORIAL PRODUCTION: Alejandro Parellada, Lola García-Alix and Jens Dahl COVER: Community of San Antonio del Cuverene, Multiethnic Indigenous Territory, Bolivia. Photo: Fernando Cola ISBN: 978-87-93961-03-6 Legal deposit made in the National Library of Peru...... Printed in Tarea Asociación Gráfica Educativa Pasaje María Auxiliadora 156, Lima 5 - Peru HURIDOCS CIP DATA Title: Building Autonomies Authors: Jens Dahl, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Shapion Noningo Sesen, Shankar Limbu and Sara Olsvig Pages: 66 Language: English ISBN: 978-87-93961-03-6 Index: 1. International – 2. Indigenous Peoples – 3. Autonomies – 4. UN and rights Geographical area: Global Publication date: August 2020 INTERNATIONAL WORK GROUP FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS Prinsessegade 29 B, 3rd floor DK 1422 Copenhagen – Denmark Tel: (45) 53732820 - E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.iwgia.org 4 CONTENTS Foreword 7 FRANCISCO CALÍ TZAY International human rights mechanisms and indigenous experiences with autonomy 9 JENS DAHL The right of indigenous peoples to self-determination 13 through autonomy or self-government VICTORIA TAULI-CORPUZ Study on indigenous peoples’ autonomies: experiences and perspectives 18 JENS DAHL Rights of indigenous peoples 33 VICTORIA TAULI-CORPUZ Socio-territorial governance or autonomy of the Wampís nation 53 Origins, progress and prospects SHAPIOM NONINGO Autonomy for Indigenous Peoples in Asia: 57 A Path to Justice, Liberty and Democracy SHANKAR LIMBU Greenland’s self-government and security matter implications 63 in decision-making SARA OLSVIG 5 u u u 6 FOREWORD This book forms an essential contribution to the process of legitimising the recognition and exercise of the world’s Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination in domestic and international law. It further offers a space for analysis, dialogue and debate between indigenous representatives and/or authorities aimed at coordinating visions and sharing experiences of the difficult path to building and practising autonomy and self-government. The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples greatly appreciates the efforts made by IWGIA, the previous Special Rapporteur Vicky Tauli Corpus, the Permanent Forum and all those who have contributed to this invaluable text. The importance of Indigenous Peoples’ struggles to obtain compliance with the Decla- ration, in particular Articles 3 and 4 which form the focus of this book, is also notable. As the book Building Autonomies describes, the implementation and recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ self-determination is a challenge for both States and Indigenous Peoples themselves, the main issue being to get such exercise fully recognised within the legal framework of each State. In most countries, the traditional political and economic sectors have been legally and politically founded on conditions of exclusion, racism, racial discrimination, and a lack of consultation with and distancing from Indig- enous Peoples. The blinkered nature of legislation, and of the traditional political and economic sectors’ -out look, has resulted in different forms of imposition, and the Indigenous Peoples’ struggles to defend their lands, territories and natural assets have often been criminalised. National legislative frameworks have enshrined a unitary vision that ignores the pluricultural, multilingual or plurinational nature of the countries. This book offers an overview of the events and processes being implemented and built by Indigenous Peoples around the world. It also shares the progress made by States as regards constitutional or legislative aspects related to individual and collective indigenous rights. It recounts situations and experiences from America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania, demonstrating the wealth of potential within the indigenous movement to obtain the legitimisation of their right to self-determination. Opportunities for dialogue must be supported between Indigenous People and States if their individual and collective rights are to be legitimised and recognised. Such dialogue could prevent suffering, repression and confrontation, enabling Indigenous Peoples to live dignified and fulfilled lives. Finally, it is important that progress in these processes for legitimising self-determination, initiated by both Indigenous Peoples and States, is monitored. Francisco Calí Tzay Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples 7 u u u Guna General Congress, Panama. Photo: Lois Iglesias 8 International human rights mechanisms and indigenous experiences with autonomy Jens Dahl The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (the Declaration) makes it clear that indigenous peoples have the right to practice, manifest, protect and develop their own cultural, social, religious and educational development. Art. 23 specifically states that: “IPs have the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for exercising their right to development.” The territorial framework for operational- ising the Declaration is autonomy, with regard to which Art. 4 states that: “Indigenous peoples have the right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs.” Without some kind of autonomy, the aspirations of the 2030 goals for sustainable development will never be achieved for indigenous peoples. To further analyze this, in January 2018, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) in January 2018 organized an expert meeting. The Expert Group Meeting recommended that the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues should give special consideration to indigenous peoples’ experiences of autonomy and constructive arrangements in their expression of self determination, including through a compilation and dissemination of good practices. As a follow-up to this recommendation, a number of UN and other institutions focusing on indigenous issues organized a seminar in Mexico City in March 2019. The objective of the seminar was to share and analyze experiences among indigenous peoples and regions with regard to the recognition and exercise of autonomy and self-government as a manifestation of the right to self-determination. A background paper was published by IWGIA and the report from the seminar was followed-up with a report (UN A/74/149) written by the Special Rapporteur for the Human Rights Council and a study prepared for the PFII (UN E/c. 19/2020/5) to be present- ed during its meeting in April 2020. Pursuing their right to self-determination, indigenous peoples seek to establish some kind of autonomy. In this process, very few indigenous peoples have challenged the integrity of the respective states to which they belong. Notable exceptions are the people of East Timor (successfully) and the people of West Papua and Western Sahara (unsuccessfully). Autonomy requires some kind of recognition by the state but the strategy followed by indigenous peoples will depend on political, legal, economic and demographic circumstances. Constitutional or legal recognition, trea- ties, constructive agreements, affirmative measures, membership of national political parties and indigenous electoral lists are among the many strategic choices adopted by indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples are often tiny minorities and among the poorest and most marginalized populations. They have also often been isolated within the borders of the states, albeit quite as often the traditional owners of large tracts of land. This makes them vulnerable to states, multinational corporations, protection agencies and others who consider such vast tracts of land as “empty” and open for land-grabbing. Indigenous peoples never benefitted from the global focus on minority rights as predicted in the aftermath of World War I. Some indigenous peoples in settler-states (such as USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia) were able to occasionally attract national attention but indigenous peoples in post-colonial states that were estab- lished after World War II remained unnoticed. It was not until decolonization and the effects of the unlimited expansion of extractive companies into all corners of the globe that the “victims of progress” were exposed. It was at this time that the United Nations developed into a platform for indigenous peoples from all continents. 9 From all corners of the world, indigenous peoples came to the United Nations to complain about violations of their fundamental human rights. They used all available means to gain the attention of states, UN agencies and the public and get them to listen to their concerns. It was David against Goliath but indigenous peoples came to Geneva and New York in their hundreds every year. They came as objects and observers but, within a few decades, they had become rights-holders over their own future. Indigenous peoples were no longer simply Sámi, Maasai or Maori but were united as indigenous peoples in their own right. Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination was globally recognized as part of international law when the United Nations in 2007 adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Implementation of this right has, however, turned out to be a key issue for indigenous peoples. For most peoples, autonomy is an ambition for the

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